Presser foot for a double needle sewing machine

ABSTRACT

A sewing machine presser foot is disclosed for use with a double needle sewing machine. The improved presser foot of this invention is designed for forming the rows of stitchings that secure a slide fastener or its chain closely along the marginal portions on each side of an opening in a garment, which rows of stitching are concealed from view when the fastener is closed, for which purpose there is provided a pair of relatively deep guide channels for accepting and guiding an element-free edge and a greater portion of each stringer tape in such a manner that the fastener assumes a combination L and inverted-L sectional configuration during the sewing operation.

[451 Aug. 1, 1972 [54] PRESSER FOOT FOR A DOUBLE NEEDLE SEWING MACHINE [72] Inventor: Hiroyuki Ebata, Uozu, Japan [73] Assignee: Yoshida Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha,

Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan 22 Filed: Dec. 2, 1970 21 Appl. No.: 94,438

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Dec. 24, 1969 Japan ..44/123274 [52] US. Cl ..112/235 [51] Int. Cl. ..D05b 29/00 [58] Field of Search ..112/235, 240

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,318,273 5/1967 Eddy .;..l12/235 3,463,104 8/1969 Vranaetal. ..l12/235 3,492,960 2/1970 Fujisaki ..112/235 Primary Examiner-Patrick D. Lawson Attorney-Linton & Linton [5 7] ABSTRACT A sewing machine presser foot is disclosed for use with a double-needle sewing machine. The improved presser foot of this invention is designed for forming the rows of stitchings that secure a slide fastener or its chain closely along the marginal portions on each side of an opening in a garment, which rows of stitching are concealed from view when the fastener is closed, for which purpose there is provided a pair of relatively deep guide channels for accepting and guiding an element-free edge and a greater portion of each stringer tape in such a manner that the fastener assumes a combination L and inverted-L sectional configuration during the sewing operation.

5 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTEDAUB 1 1972 sum 1 or 3 FIG.5

INVENTOR, Y/ROYU/ EBA- PATENTEDAus' 1 m2 SHEET 2 OF 3 FIG.2

villi/ 7711111511114 ll 255-242555.

FIGA

INVENTOR. Y/RO Yl/Al EBA TA Egg/Z? ATTORNEYS PATENTEBAuc I I972 SHEET 3 OF 3 I INVENTOR. Y/ROYU/(l FEAT/J 1/' ATTORNEYS PRESSER FOOT FOR A DOUBLE NEEDLE SEWING MACHINE This invention relates to a presser foot for a sewing FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating the reverse side of the presser foot;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a modification of the presser foot of the invention which is designed for a machine, and more particularly, to a machine presser 5 concealed lid fastener;

foot for use with a two-needle sewing machine for sewing a slide fastener to a garment fabric or the like.

Slide fasteners or zippers for closing an opening in a garment or the like generally consist of two opposed stringer tapes each carrying a row of interlocking fastener elements engageable by a reciprocating slider, and they are sewn to the marginal portions on each side of the opening.

A presser foot is already known which has been devised to adapt itself to a sewing machine having a double needle and cutting blade arrangement so as to allow both stringer tapes simultaneously to be sewn along the marginal portions on each side of a simultaneously provided opening in the garment. This type of presser foot literally supersedes the conventional single needle accepting presser feet in that slide fasteners are sewn more efficiently on one hand and two rows of stitchings that secure the fasteners to the garment are aligned substantially parallel to each other and spaced an equal distance from the edge of the opening. However, such known double-sewing presser feet are designed to spread flat the fastener stringer tapes and guide the latter in a plane path, and hence it has been difficult with these presser feet to sew the element-carrying edges of the fastener desirably as close along the marginal portions of the opening in the garment as possible. This difficulty results in wasteful excess fabric between the sewn edges of the garment and the opening therein, and hence in less attractively finished product.

It is therefore the primary object of the present invention to provide a novel presser foot which is adaptable for a double needle sewing machine and which will eliminate the above noted difficulties of the prior-art presser feet.

It is another object of the invention to provide an improved sewing machine presser foot which can accept and guide a cutter blade for forming an opening in a garment simultaneously with the stitching operation and which can provide a line of stitching desirably close along the marginal portions on each side of the opening in the garment.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved presser foot of the type described which will permit the double needle sewing to be applied to a concealed slide fastener or its chain.

A better understanding of these objects and other desirable features of the invention will be had from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings showing a preferred embodiment which should be taken in an illustrative but not limiting sense. In the drawings, throughout which like reference numerals refer to like and corresponding parts:

FIG. 1 is an enlarged perspective view of a presser foot embodying the invention and shown as in cooperative relation to certain elements of a sewing machine;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the improved presser foot partly broken away to reveal the fastener chain underneath;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line III--III of FIG. 2;

foot in operation for sewing a finished concealed slide fastener.

The sewing machine presser foot of the invention is generally designated by numeral 10, and it is shown as comprising a flat sole portion 11, a merging toe portion 12 and heel portion 13. As seen in FIG. 1, the foot 10 is provided centrally with a relatively large recess 14 separating between the toe portion 12 and the heel portion 13. The recess 14 is intended to expose to view part of the stringer tapes so as to see to it that the fastener is properly guided in the foot 10. An upright connecting bar member 15 extends from the heel portion 13 and connects the same securely to a presser bar 16 in a machine head 17.

The sole portion 11, as better seen in FIG. 4, includes a first partition member 18 merging into the toe portion 12 and a second partition member 19 merging into the heel portion 13. The two partition members are longitudinally aligned but separated from each other by a space forming a vertical hole 20 for receiving a cutter blade C that is arranged to sever a garment G in interlocked operative relation to needles N sewing the fastener tapes T to the garment. The centrally disposed partition members l8, 19 separate the sole portion 11 into identical halves, each half having parallel inner land 21 and outer land 22 defining therebetween a relatively shallow elongated straight channel 23 extending substantially the entire length of the sole portion. Each shallow channel 23 slidably accepts and guides the row of fastener elements E secured to an element-carrying edge Ea of each stringer tape T. Each inner land 21 has a clearance aperture 24 forward of the blade receiving hole 20 for receiving a reciprocating needle N operatively extending from the machine head 17.

The sole portion 11 further includes a pair of relatively deep elongated parallel channels 27 each defined by a side wall 25 of each partition and an inner side wall 26 of each inner land 21 and extending longitudinally through the length of the foot. The channels 27 accept and guide the element-free edge 28 and the greater tape portion of the fastener, for which purpose the toe and heel portions of the foot are sufficiently thick to provide the channels 27 with a depth sufficient to hold the opposed stringer tapes T of the fastener in position on the garment G in such a manner that the fastener assumes a combination L and inverted-L configuration when sectionally observed, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5.

With this construction, the sewing machine presser foot according to the invention requires that the opposed tapes T of the fastener are positioned on the garment G with their respective element-carrying edges Ea laterally inverted away from each other so that the ele ment-free edges 28 are upturned towards each other when inserted into the deep channels 27, in which position the two opposed stringer tapes T assume cross-sectionally L and an inverted-L shape, respectively.

This arrangement permits of the formation of a line of stitching closely adjacent to the marginal portions of the opening in the garment, while the stringer tapes are stably guided in an L and inverted-L fashion. It will further ensure that the fastener tape be held harmless from the blade.

Where the presser foot of the invention is applied to a finished slide fastener, the slider S is brought to an extreme end with its pull tab S face up and with the opposed tapes T separated, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. The sewing should terminate short of the position of the slider S, leaving a non-sewn end portion 30, which portion is turned over in a somersault fashion and brought underneath the garment G through its opening 31 with the pull tab S inverted face up against the reverse side of the garment. in this manner, the opening 31 is closed by moving the thus oriented slider S towards the other end of the fastener, with the sewing threads M concealed completely from view.

FIG. illustrates a modified presser foot according to the invention which is adaptable for a concealed type slide fastener and which is principally the same as the previous embodiment only except that the element guide channels 23 are deeper and tilted outwardly to snugly accept the concealed fastener elements so as to permit of the sewing more closely along the elementcarrying edges Ea.

While the invention has been herein illustrated with respect to a preferred embodiment thereof, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A presser foot for use with a two-needle sewing machine for sewing a slide fastener or its chain consisting of opposed stringer tapes each having an elementcarrying edge and an element-free edge, which presser foot comprises a flat sole portion, a merging toe and a heel portion, said sole portion including a centrally disposed partition member separating said sole portion into identical halves, each half having parallel inner and outer lands defining therebetween a relatively shallow elongated straight channel extending substantially the entire length of said sole portion for slidably accepting and guiding a row of fastener elements secured to the element-carrying edge of each stringer tape, said inner land having therein a clearance aperture for receiving a reciprocating needle, and said sole portion further including a pair of relatively deep elongated parallel channels each defined by a side wall of said partition and an inner side wall of said inner land and extending longitudinally through the length of the foot for accepting and guiding said element-free edge and the greater portion of each tape, the arrangement being that said opposed stringer tapes are held in sewing disposition with their respective element-carrying edges inverted laterally away from each other and with their respective element-free edges upturned towards each other, assuming a combination L and inverted-L sectional configuration during the sewing operation.

2. A presser foot for use with a two-needle sewing machine equipped with a cutter blade for sewing a slide fastener or its chain consisting of opposed stringer tapes each having an element-carrying edge and an element-free ed e which resser foot co rise a H t sole portion, a me rging toe rid a heel porti r'i, sai d sofe portion including a first centrally disposed partition member merging into said toe portion and a second centrally disposed partition member merging into said heel portion, the two partition members being longitudinally aligned but separated from each other to provide a vertical hole for receiving a cutter blade extending from the sewing machine, and said partition members separating said sole portion into identical halves, each half having parallel inner and outer lands defining therebetween a relatively shallow elongated straight channel extending substantially the entire length of said sole for slidably accepting and guiding a row of fastener elements secured to the element-carrying edge of each stringer tape, said inner land having therein a clearance aperture for receiving a reciprocating needle, and said sole portion further including a pair of relatively deep elongated parallel channels each defined by a side wall of said partition and an inner side wall of said inner land and extending longitudinally through the length of the foot for accepting and guiding said element-free edge and the greater portion of each tape, the arrangement being that said opposed stringer tapes are held in sewing disposition with their respective element-carrying edges inverted laterally away from each other'and with their respective element-free edges upturned towards each other, assuming a combination L and inverted-L sectional configuration during the sewing operation.

3. The presser foot as claimed in claim 1 which is provided centrally with a recess separating between said toe and heel portions.

4. The presser foot as claimed in claim 2 wherein said clearance aperture is positioned forward of said vertical hole.

5. The presser foot as claimed in claim 1 wherein said straight element guide channel is configured to fit with a concealed fastener element. 

1. A presser foot for use with a two-needle sewing machine for sewing a slide fastener or its chain consisting of opposed stringer tapes each having an element-carrying edge and an element-free edge, which presser foot comprises a flat sole portion, a merging toe and a heel portion, said sole portion including a centrally disposed partition member separating said sole portion into identical halves, each half having parallel inner and outer lands defining therebetween a relatively shallow elongated straight channel extending substantially the entire length of said sole portion for slidably accepting and guiding a row of fastener elements secured to the element-carrying edge of each stringer tape, said inner land having therein a clearance aperture for receiving a reciprocating needle, and said sole portion further including a pair of relatively deep elongated parallel channels each defined by a side wall of said partition and an inner side wall of said inner land and extending longitudinally through the length of the foot for accepting and guiding said element-free edge and the greater portion of each tape, the arrangement being that said opposed stringer tapes are held in sewing disposition with their respective element-carrying edges inverted laterally away from each other and with their respective element-free edges upturned towards each other, assuming a combination L and inverted-L sectional configuration during the sewing operation.
 2. A presser foot for use with a two-needle sewing machine equipped with a cutter blade for sewing a slide fastener or its chain consisting of opposed stringer tapes each having an element-carrying edge and an element-free edge, which presser foot comprises a flat sole portion, a merging toe and a heel portion, said sole portion including a first centrally disposed partition member merging into said toe portion and a second centrally disposed partition member merging into said heel portion, the two partition members being longitudinally aligned but separated from each other to provide a vertical hole for receiving a cutter blade extending from the sewing machine, and said partition members separating said sole portion into identical halves, each half having parallel inner and outer lands defining therebetween a relatively shallow elongated straight channel extending substantially the entire length of said sole for slidably accepting and guiding a row of fastener elements secured to the element-carrying edge of each stringer tape, said inner land having therein a clearance aperture foR receiving a reciprocating needle, and said sole portion further including a pair of relatively deep elongated parallel channels each defined by a side wall of said partition and an inner side wall of said inner land and extending longitudinally through the length of the foot for accepting and guiding said element-free edge and the greater portion of each tape, the arrangement being that said opposed stringer tapes are held in sewing disposition with their respective element-carrying edges inverted laterally away from each other and with their respective element-free edges upturned towards each other, assuming a combination L and inverted-L sectional configuration during the sewing operation.
 3. The presser foot as claimed in claim 1 which is provided centrally with a recess separating between said toe and heel portions.
 4. The presser foot as claimed in claim 2 wherein said clearance aperture is positioned forward of said vertical hole.
 5. The presser foot as claimed in claim 1 wherein said straight element guide channel is configured to fit with a concealed fastener element. 